Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
|PAL=November 7, 2003}} | genre = Action | modes = Single-player Multiplayer | ratings = | platforms = GameCube | media = 1 × GameCube Optical Disc }}Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike is a Star Wars video game developed by Factor 5 and published by LucasArts exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube. The game follows the Rogue Squadron, which, under the command of Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles, uses starfighters to engage and defeat the Galactic Empire. The game is set during the original Star Wars trilogy and recreates battles that take place during those films. Rebel Strike was developed as a sequel to Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Rebel Strike added the ability for players to leave their starfighters to participate in ground battles as well as enter and pilot other vehicles during certain missions. The game also has a two-player multiplayer mode allowing co-operative play for all but two missions from Rogue Leader. Since Rebel Strike would be a "second generation game" (as producer Julian Eggebrecht stated in a documentary), the production team felt the need to expand upon the game's predecessor by adding enhanced atmospheric effects, more impressive explosions and the capability of having many more enemies on-screen at once than Rogue Leader could handle, among other improvements. Plot The story is set shortly after the destruction of the Death Star above Yavin 4. The Empire drives the Alliance off the moon, leaving the Alliance searching for a planet to serve as its next base. Tycho Celchu, an Imperial officer, defects to the Alliance on Dantooine and leads it to a group of scientists on Ralltiir who wish to defect. During the battle to rescue the scientists, Rogue Squadron member Sarkli defects to the Empire. Despite this, Rogue Squadron and the scientists escape safely in a transport craft. The Rebels settle on Hoth, but the Battle of Hoth forces them to leave as the Empire attacks and destroys their base. The Wedge Antilles campaign takes place after the Battle of Hoth, leading a raid on Bakura to extract rebel hostages from the orbiting prison. Sarkli leads Rogue Squadron into Geonosis's orbit, where they both crash following an ambush by TIE fighters and Imperial escort carriers. Rogue Squadron fights with Stormtroopers and battle droid remnants. By making use of various pieces of deactivated Galactic Republic machinery left over from the Battle of Geonosis, Rogue Squadron escapes and Wedge flees the system. This uncovers a ploy to wipe out part of the Alliance fleet over Dubrillion, and, in response, Rogue Squadron raids the shipyards of Fondor to destroy a Super Star Destroyer under construction called the Olympiad. Emperor Palpatine reveals that the recent battles were manipulated, making the Rebels overconfident. This proves disadvantageous to the Rebels in the upcoming Battle of Endor. Nevertheless, Han Solo, having been rescued from Jabba the Hutt, disables the shield protecting the Death Star II over Endor while killing Sarkli, allowing the Rebels to achieve victory. Gameplay Single-player Rebel Strike contains on-foot missions and space battle missions, as in the previous Rogue Squadron games. The game also includes some unlockable classic missions inspired by the Star Wars original trilogy. Multiplayer Rebel Strike features two multiplayer modes: Co-op and Versus. Co-op allows players to replay missions from Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader in split-screen, excluding the levels "TRIUMPH OF THE EMPIRE" and "REVENGE ON YAVIN". In Co-op, players share the same pool of lives. Versus features a variety of modes, such as Dogfight and Survival. In any Versus mode, players can pilot several craft, including X-Wings, A-Wings, TIE Fighters, and Darth Vader's TIE Advanced. Reception }} Rebel Strike has received generally positive reviews, with a Metacritic score of 75% based on 34 reviews. Critics praised the intense gameplay and the ability to have more enemies on screen than on Rogue Leader. However, Rebel Strike was criticized for its on-foot missions, due to their clunky gameplay and lack of refinement. References External links *[http://cube.ign.com/articles/455/455717p1.html IGN review for Rebel Strike] Category:Star Wars Category:Video Games Category:Media